Toy waterway



R. A. WOLFE TOY WATERWAY Feb. 7, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1964 INVENTOR Foam) A 1440.4 r:

Feb. 7, 1967 R. A. WOLFE 3,302,949

' TOY WATERWAY Filed June 30, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AT ORNEYS United States Patent 3,302,949 TOY WATERWAY Robert A. Wolfe, 455 Elizabeth Ave., Newark, NJ. 07112 Filed June 30, 1964. Ser. No. 379,411 4 Claims. (Cl. 272-32) This invention relates to articles of play in general, and, in particular, to a knock-down type of waterway which may be readily assembled on a playground or the like and used by young children as a water channel in which they may ride in a suitable toy boat or the like.

The main object of this invention is to provide a unique article of play, particularly appealing to very young children.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a simplified construction enabling the fabrication of a waterway in which young children can ride in small boats which they themselves control.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a waterway of the type described, the shape of which may be varied with ease.

In the following specification and claims, the term waterway is intended to include a prefabricated endless channel to be filled with water. It is not necessary that the waterway be wide enough to accommodate a toy boat of sufficient size to hold a child, and the present invention would have utility as a small waterway in which miniature boats alone are propelled.

According to the invention, the waterway comprises a plurality of separable trough-shaped sections, the ends of each section including an integrally formed mating portion for mechanically securing adjacent sections together. The waterway may include all curved sections, or both curved and straight sections, the curved sections being formed so that the waterway can be curved in either direction. After the waterway has been mechanically assembled, the junctions of the various sections are sealed by means of a water-tight adhesive tape or the like, whereby the fabricated channel may be filled with water without fear of leakage.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention are accomplished is more fully explained below with reference to the following drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a top view of the assembled waterway;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a straight section of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a curved section according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view along the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view of the junction of two sections along the line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the junction along line 6-6 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the junction along line 7--7 of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, the assembled waterway is shown as an endless channel comprising a plurality of straight sections 10 and curved sections 12, made of a conventional plastic material. Referring to FIG. 4, each of the sections 10 and 12 is trough-shaped in cross section and includes a base 14 from which integral diverging walls 16 and 18 extend. The base may include bottom recesses 20, rectangular in shape, and longitudinal side recesses 22 and 24 for structural rigidity and purposes of design.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the left hand side of each section includes an integrally formed lip 26 extending downwardly from the entire exterior periphery of the section. Additionally, the outer surface of each section includes a peripheral curved slot 27 adjacent lip 26 to form an exterior hook portion. The right hand side 3,302,949 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 of the section is formed in a complementary manner, and includes a lip 28 extending upwardly from the interior portion of the section, and an adjacent interior slot 29 opening into the interior of the waterway. The edges of the sections may be recessed slightly at 30 and 31 for purposes described below. The curved sections 12 illustrated in FIG. 3 include identical fastener portions and are therefore numbered in the identical fashion as the straight section of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 5, when interconnecting two of the straight sections 10, the complementary fastener portions are placed together so that the lip 26 of a first section is inserted into slot 29 of an adjacent section, while the lip 28 of the adjacent section is inserted into the slot 27 of the first section. To waterproof the seal, an adhesive tape 32 is placed over the junction of the two sections within the respective recesses 30 and 31 which lie side by side. Numerous commercially available adhesive tapes provide a sufficiently waterproof seal to be used for this purpose.

In securing two curved sections or a straight section to a curved section to complete the waterway, three situations may arise. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, if the right hand section of curved section 12 is tobe connected to the left hand side of straight section 10, the junction is the same as that described above and illustrated in FIG. 5. This holds true as long as the waterway continues to curve in the same direction or straight sections are added.

However, when it is desired to curve the waterway in the opposite direction by joining the left hand side of curved section 12 to the left hand side of straight section 10 (or a curved section 12), an additional member is necessary to complete the junction. This additional element is shown as a bracket 40, having the same trough shape as the individual sections illustrated in FIG. 4, and including a 'base 42 from which two perpendicular arms 44 and 46 extend. As shown in FIG. 6, when two sections are joined in this manner, the adjacent lips 26 abut against each other. To mechanically secure the two sections, bracket 40 is inserted around the lips 26 so that arms 44 and 46 extend upwardly into the respective slots 27. The bracket 40 is so shaped that when it is in place, its lower surface is flush with the lowest point of the sections on which the waterway rests. In this case, the sealing tape 32 fits into the adjacent recesses 30 of the respective sections.

The other possibility, illustrated in FIG. 7, occurs when it is desired to unite the right hand side of curved section 12 with the right hand side of a section 10 or 12. In this case, the upwardly extending lips 28 are placed in an abutting relationship and it is necessary to invert the bracket 40 so that arms 44 and 46 extend into the slots 29 of the respective sections. The dimensions of the mating portions of the sections and the bracket 40 are such that the upper portion of bracket 40, Le. the outer surface of base 42, is flush with the recessed portions 31. Since the recesses 31 are separated by the bracket 40, it is necessary to use a tape section 34 of sufficient width to accommodate the recesses 31 and the width of the bracket.

In each of the illustrated junctions, the adjacent sections are tightly held for mechanical rigidity with the securing means serving as a tongue in groove seal to inhibit leakage if the tape should loosen or otherwise fail. The individual sections permit the user to construct many differently shaped waterways of any desired size. The device is easy to construct and unlikely to produce problems of leakage. Disassembly requires no more than the simple removal of the tapes 32 or 34 after the water has been removed. Thereafter, the individual sections may be conveniently separated and stored.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has J been shown and described, the invention is not so limited and should only be defined by the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A toy waterway comprising a plurality of individual troughshaped sections interfitted at adjacent ends thereof forming an endless waterway and including means for Water-sealing the joints formed at said interfitted adjacent ends, each said trough-shaped section having identical first ends and identical second ends, said ends comprising means for interconnecting said sections, said first end of each section comprising an outwardly facing channel extending substantially from the top of one side of said scetion down said one side across the bottom of said section and up the other side substantially to the top thereof, said second end comprising an inwardly facing channel substantially co-extensive with said channel of said first end, the outer legs of the channels of said first ends of at least some of said sections being received within said channels of said second ends of others of said sections, the outer legs of the channels of said second ends of at least some of said sections being received within said channels of said first ends of others of said sections.

2. The toy waterway of claim 1, wherein at least some of said sections are curved in horizontal planes and at least some of said curved sections curve in opposite dir'ections from others of said curved sections and wherein said second ends of said sections which curve in opposite directions are juxtaposed in abutting relationship with the outer legs of others of said sections along the outer legs of the respective channels thereof and means are provided for retaining said juxtaposed ends in a tight-fitted relationship.

3. A toy waterway as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for water-sealingcornprises adhesive tape placed over the junction formed between adjacent sections.

4. A toy waterway as claimed in claim 3, wherein the edges of said sections are recessed to receive therein said adhesive tape.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 850,275 4/ 1907 Staples. 1,190,350 7/1916 Williams 61-15 1,357,995 11/1920 Kitterman 27232 1,3 68,671 2/1921 Watson, 1,949,680 3/ 1934 Ebner. 2,509,669 5/ 1950 Borst. 3,008,581 11/1961 Kohler 4625 X 3,145,501 8/1964 Grosser 4626 X FOREIGN 'PATENTS 337,805 11/ 1930 Great Britain. 911,851 1 1/1962 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. L. J. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOY WATERWAY COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL TROUGH-SHAPED SECTIONS INTERFITTED AT ADJACENT ENDS THEREOF FORMING AN ENDLESS WATERWAY AND INCLUDING MEANS FOR WATER-SEALING THE JOINTS FORMED AT SAID INTERFITTED ADJACENT ENDS, EACH SAID TROUGH-SHAPED SECTION HAVING IDENTICAL FIRST ENDS AND IDENTICAL SECOND ENDS, SAID ENDS COMPRISING MEANS FOR INTERCONNECTING SAID SECTIONS, SAID FIRST END OF EACH SECTION COMPRISING AN OUTWARDLY FACING CHANNEL EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY FROM THE TOP OF ONE SIDE OF SAID SECTION DOWN SAID ONE SIDE ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF SAID SECTION AND UP THE OTHER SIDE SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE TOP THEREOF, SAID SECOND END COMPRISING AN INWARDLY FACING CHANNEL SUBSTANTIALLY CO-EXTENSIVE WITH SAID CHANNEL OF SAID FIRST END, THE OUTER LEGS OF THE CHANNELS OF SAID FIRST 